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Phantasmagoria

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 2.61, Purport:

The word mat-para is most significant in this connection. How one can become mat-para is described in the life of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, a great scholar and ācārya in the line of the mat-para, remarks, mad-bhakti-prabhāvena sarvendriya-vijaya-pūrvikā svātma-dṛṣṭiḥ sulabheti bhāvaḥ. "The senses can be completely controlled only by the strength of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa." Also, the example of fire is sometimes given: "As a blazing fire burns everything within a room, Lord Viṣṇu, situated in the heart of the yogī, burns up all kinds of impurities." The Yoga-sūtra also prescribes meditation on Viṣṇu, and not meditation on the void. The so-called yogīs who meditate on something other than the Viṣṇu form simply waste their time in a vain search after some phantasmagoria.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 16.8, Purport:

sreThe demonic conclude that the world is phantasmagoria. There is no cause and effect, no controller, no purpose: everything is unreal. They say that this cosmic manifestation arises due to chance material actions and reactions. They do not think that the world was created by God for a certain purpose. They have their own theory: that the world has come about in its own way and that there is no reason to believe that there is a God behind it. For them there is no difference between spirit and matter, and they do not accept the Supreme Spirit. Everything is matter only, and the whole cosmos is supposed to be a mass of ignorance. According to them, everything is void, and whatever manifestation exists is due to our ignorance in perception. They take it for granted that all manifestation of diversity is a display of ignorance, just as in a dream we may create so many things which actually have no existence. Then when we are awake we shall see that everything is simply a dream. But factually, although the demons say that life is a dream, they are very expert in enjoying this dream. And so, instead of acquiring knowledge, they become more and more implicated in their dreamland. They conclude that as a child is simply the result of sexual intercourse between man and woman, this world is born without any soul. For them it is only a combination of matter that has produced the living entities, and there is no question of the existence of the soul. As many living creatures come out from perspiration and from a dead body without any cause, the whole living world has come out of the material combinations of the cosmic manifestation.

BG 18.54, Purport:

He has no desire for material enjoyment, because he knows that every living entity is a fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore eternally a servant. He does not see, in the material world, someone as higher and someone as lower; higher and lower positions are ephemeral, and a devotee has nothing to do with ephemeral appearances or disappearances. For him stone and gold are of equal value. This is the brahma-bhūta stage (SB 4.30.20), and this stage is attained very easily by the pure devotee. In that stage of existence, the idea of becoming one with the Supreme Brahman and annihilating one's individuality becomes hellish, the idea of attaining the heavenly kingdom becomes phantasmagoria, and the senses are like serpents whose poison teeth are broken. As there is no fear of a serpent with broken teeth, there is no fear from the senses when they are automatically controlled. The world is miserable for the materially infected person, but for a devotee the entire world is as good as Vaikuṇṭha, or the spiritual sky. The highest personality in this material universe is no more significant than an ant for a devotee. Such a stage can be achieved by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, who preached pure devotional service in this age.

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

SB 1.18.13, Purport:

When there are some similar points, it is possible to compare one thing to another. One cannot compare the association of a pure devotee to anything material. Men who are addicted to material happiness aspire to reach the heavenly planets like the moon, Venus and Indraloka, and those who are advanced in material philosophical speculations aspire after liberation from all material bondage. When one becomes frustrated with all kinds of material advancement, one desires the opposite type of liberation, which is called apunar-bhava, or no rebirth. But the pure devotees of the Lord do not aspire after the happiness obtained in the heavenly kingdom, nor do they aspire after liberation from material bondage. In other words, for the pure devotees of the Lord the material pleasures obtainable in the heavenly planets are like phantasmagoria, and because they are already liberated from all material conceptions of pleasure and distress, they are factually liberated even in the material world. This means that the pure devotees of the Lord are engaged in a transcendental existence, namely in the loving service of the Lord, both in the material world and in the spiritual world. As a government servant is always the same, either in the office or at home or at any place, so a devotee has nothing to do with anything material, for he is exclusively engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord. Since he has nothing to do with anything material, what pleasure can he derive from material benedictions like kingship or other overlordships, which are finished quickly with the end of the body? Devotional service is eternal; it has no end, because it is spiritual.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.2.3, Purport:

The bhāgavata-dharma, or the cult of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is perfectly distinct from the way of fruitive activities, which are considered by the devotees to be merely a waste of time. The whole universe, or for that matter all material existence, is moving on as jagat, simply for planning business to make one's position very comfortable or secure, although everyone sees that this existence is neither comfortable nor secure and can never become comfortable or secure at any stage of development. Those who are captivated by the illusory advancement of material civilization (following the way of phantasmagoria) are certainly madmen. The whole material creation is a jugglery of names only; in fact, it is nothing but a bewildering creation of matter like earth, water and fire. The buildings, furniture, cars, bungalows, mills, factories, industries, peace, war or even the highest perfection of material science, namely atomic energy and electronics, are all simply bewildering names of material elements with their concomitant reactions of the three modes. Since the devotee of the Lord knows them perfectly well, he is not interested in creating unwanted things for a situation which is not at all reality, but simply names of no more significance than the babble of sea waves. The great kings, leaders and soldiers fight with one another in order to perpetuate their names in history. They are forgotten in due course of time, and they make a place for another era in history. But the devotee realizes how much history and historical persons are useless products of flickering time. The fruitive worker aspires after a big fortune in the matter of wealth, woman and worldly adoration, but those who are fixed in perfect reality are not at all interested in such false things.

SB 2.2.4, Purport:

In such a way he can further the progressive march of human civilization. But here the idea given by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī is that the reserve energy of human life, which is far superior to that of animals, should simply be utilized for self-realization. Advancement of human civilization must be towards the goal of establishing our lost relationship with God, which is not possible in any form of life other than the human. One must realize the nullity of the material phenomenon, considering it a passing phantasmagoria, and must endeavor to make a solution to the miseries of life. Self-complacence with a polished type of animal civilization geared to sense gratification is delusion, and such a "civilization" is not worthy of the name. In pursuit of such false activities, a human being is in the clutches of māyā, or illusion. Great sages and saints in the days of yore were not living in palatial buildings furnished with good furniture and so-called amenities of life. They used to live in huts and groves and sit on the flat ground, and yet they have left immense treasures of high knowledge with all perfection. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī were high-ranking ministers of state, but they were able to leave behind them immense writings on transcendental knowledge, while residing only for one night underneath one tree. They did not live even two nights under the same tree, and what to speak of well-furnished rooms with modern amenities. And still they were able to give us most important literatures of self-realization. So-called comforts of life are not actually helpful for progressive civilization; rather, they are detrimental to such progressive life. In the system of sanātana-dharma, of four divisions of social life and four orders of progressive realization, there are ample opportunities and sufficient directions for a happy termination of the progressive life, and the sincere followers are advised therein to accept a voluntary life of renunciation in order to achieve the desired goal of life.

SB 2.3.11, Purport:

Therefore unless the gross materialists or the worshipers of the temporary demigods come in contact with a transcendentalist like the pure devotee of the Lord, their attempts are simply a waste of energy. Only by the grace of the divine personalities, the pure devotees of the Lord, can one achieve pure devotion, which is the highest perfection of human life. Only a pure devotee of the Lord can show one the right way of progressive life. Otherwise both the materialistic way of life, without any information of God or the demigods, and the life engaged in the worship of demigods, in pursuit of temporary material enjoyments, are different phases of phantasmagoria. They are nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā also, but the Bhagavad-gītā can be understood in the association of pure devotees only, and not by the interpretations of politicians or dry philosophical speculators.

SB 2.4.20, Purport:

Everyone is seeking the favor of the goddess of fortune, but people do not know that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the beloved husband of all goddesses of fortune. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that the Lord, in His transcendental abode Goloka Vṛndāvana, is accustomed to herding the surabhi cows and is served there by hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune. All these goddesses of fortune are manifestations of His transcendental pleasure potency (hlādinī-śakti) in His internal energy, and when the Lord manifested Himself on this earth He partially displayed the activities of His pleasure potency in His rāsa-līlā just to attract the conditioned souls, who are all after the phantasmagoria pleasure potency in degraded sex enjoyment. The pure devotees of the Lord like Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who was completely detached from the abominable sex life of the material world, discussed this act of the Lord's pleasure potency certainly not in relation to sex, but to relish a transcendental taste inconceivable to the mundaners who are after sex life. Sex life in the mundane world is the root-cause of being conditioned by the shackles of illusion, and certainly Śukadeva Gosvāmī was never interested in the sex life of the mundane world. Nor does the manifestation of the Lord's pleasure potency have any connection with such degraded things. Lord Caitanya was a strict sannyāsī, so much so that He did not allow any woman to come near Him, not even to bow down and offer respects. He never even heard the prayers of the deva-dāsīs offered in the temple of Jagannātha because a sannyāsī is forbidden to hear songs sung by the fair sex. Yet even in the rigid position of a sannyāsī He recommended the mode of worship preferred by the gopīs of Vṛndāvana as the topmost loving service possible to be rendered to the Lord. And Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the principal head of all such goddesses of fortune, and therefore She is the pleasure counterpart of the Lord and is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa.

SB 2.5.25, Purport:

The living being is practically the dominating factor over the material elements as the enjoyer, though the background is the Supreme Lord. Factually, save and except the Lord, no one can be called the enjoyer, but the living entity falsely desires to become the enjoyer. This is the origin of false ego. When the bewildered living being desires this, the shadow elements are generated by the will of the Lord, and the living entities are allowed to run after them as after a phantasmagoria.

It is said that first the tan-mātrā sound is created and then the sky, and in this verse it is confirmed that actually it is so, but sound is the subtle form of the sky, and the distinction is like that between the seer and the seen. The sound is the representation of the actual object, as the sound produced speaking of the object gives an idea of the description of the object. Therefore sound is the subtle characteristic of the object. Similarly, sound representation of the Lord, in terms of His characteristics, is the complete form of the Lord, as was seen by Vasudeva and Mahārāja Daśaratha, the fathers of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāma. The sound representation of the Lord is nondifferent from the Lord Himself because the Lord and His representation in sound are absolute knowledge. Lord Caitanya has instructed us that in the holy name of the Lord, as sound representation of the Lord, all the potencies of the Lord are invested.

SB 2.5.39, Purport:

The Lord is all spirit, and His name, fame, glories, qualities, pastimes, etc., are all nondifferent from Him because He is absolute. As such, the planets in the kingdom of God are also nondifferent from Him. In those planets there is no difference between the body and the soul, nor is there any influence of time as we experience it in the material world. And in addition to there being no influence of time, the planets in, Brahmaloka, due to being spiritual, are never annihilated. All variegatedness in the spiritual planets is also one with the Lord, and therefore the Vedic aphorism ekam evādvitīyam is fully realized in that sanātana atmosphere of spiritual variegatedness. This material world is only a shadow phantasmagoria of the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, and because it is a shadow it is never eternal; the variegatedness in the material world of duality (spirit and matter) cannot be compared to that of the spiritual world. Because of a poor fund of knowledge, less intelligent persons sometimes mistake the conditions of the shadow world to be equivalent to those of the spiritual world, and thus they mistake the Lord and His pastimes in the material world to be one with the conditioned souls and their activities. The Lord condemns such less intelligent persons in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.11):

SB 2.7.6, Purport:

Woman, or the fair sex, is the enchanting principle for the living entities, and the male form, especially in the human being, is meant for self-realization. The whole world is moving under the spell of womanly attraction, and as soon as a man becomes united with a woman, he at once becomes a victim of material bondage under a tight knot. The desires for lording it over the material world, under the intoxication of a false sense of lordship, specifically begin just after the man's unification with a woman. The desires for acquiring a house, possessing land, having children and becoming prominent in society, the affection for community and the place of birth, and the hankering for wealth, which are all like phantasmagoria or illusory dreams, encumber a human being, and he is thus impeded in his progress toward self-realization, the real aim of life. The brahmacāri, or a boy from the age of five years, especially from the higher castes, namely from the scholarly parents (the brāhmaṇas), the administrative parents (the kṣatriyas), or the mercantile or productive parents (the vaiśyas), is trained until twenty-five years of age under the care of a bona fide guru or teacher, and under strict observance of discipline he comes to understand the values of life along with taking specific training for a livelihood. The brahmacārī is then allowed to go home and enter householder life and get married to a suitable woman. But there are many brahmacārīs who do not go home to become householders but continue the life of naiṣṭhika-brahmacārīs, without any connection with women. They accept the order of sannyāsa, or the renounced order of life, knowing well that combination with women is an unnecessary burden that checks self-realization. Since sex desire is very strong at a certain stage of life, the guru may allow the brahmacārī to marry; this license is given to a brahmacārī who is unable to continue the way of naiṣṭhika-brahmacarya, and such discriminations are possible for the bona fide guru.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.12.15, Translation:

Śrīla Dhruva Mahārāja realized that this cosmic manifestation bewilders living entities like a dream or phantasmagoria because it is a creation of the illusory, external energy of the Supreme Lord.

SB 4.12.15, Purport:

In the deep forest it sometimes appears that there are big palaces and nice cities. That is technically called gandharva-nagara. Similarly, in dreams also we create many false things out of imagination. A self-realized person, or a devotee, knows well that this material cosmic manifestation is a temporary, illusory representation appearing to be truth. It is like a phantasmagoria. But behind this shadow creation there is reality—the spiritual world. A devotee is interested in the spiritual world, not its shadow. Since he has realization of the supreme truth, a devotee is not interested in this temporary shadow of truth. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59)).

SB 4.20.23, Purport:

There are others, namely jñānīs and yogīs, who want the benediction of merging into the existence of the Lord. This is called kaivalya. The Lord is therefore addressed as kaivalya-pati, the master or Lord of the benediction known as kaivalya. But devotees receive a different type of benediction from the Lord. Devotees are anxious neither for the heavenly planets nor for merging into the existence of the Lord. According to devotees, kaivalya, or merging into the existence of the Lord, is considered as good as hell. The word naraka means "hell." Similarly, everyone who exists in this material world is called nāraka because this material existence itself is known as a hellish condition of life. Pṛthu Mahārāja, however, expressed that he was interested neither in the benediction desired by the karmīs nor that desired by the jñānīs and yogīs. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Prabhu, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, described that kaivalya is no better than a hellish condition of life, and as for the delights of the heavenly planets, they are factually will-o'-the-wisps, or phantasmagoria. They are not wanted by devotees. Devotees do not even care for the positions held by Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva, nor does a devotee desire to become equal with Lord Viṣṇu. As a pure devotee of the Lord, Pṛthu Mahārāja made his position very clear.

SB 4.25.3, Purport:

As pointed out by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, kaivalya, or merging into the Brahman effulgence, is just like going to hell. He similarly states that elevation to the upper planetary systems for the enjoyment of heavenly life is just so much phantasmagoria. This means that a devotee does not give any importance to the ultimate goal of the karmīs and jñānīs. The ultimate goal of the karmīs is promotion to the heavenly kingdom, and the ultimate goal of the jñānīs is merging into the Brahman effulgence. Of course, the jñānīs are superior to the karmīs, as confirmed by Lord Caitanya. Koṭi-karmaniṣṭha-madhye eka 'jñānī' śreṣṭha: "one jñānī, or impersonalist, is better than many thousands of fruitive actors." (CC Madhya 19.147) Therefore a devotee never enters upon the path of karma, or elevation by fruitive activities. Nārada Muni took compassion upon King Prācīnabarhiṣat when he saw the King engaged in fruitive activity. In comparison to mundane workers, those who are trying to be elevated to the higher planetary systems by performing yajñas are undoubtedly superior. In pure devotional service, however, both karma and jñāna are considered bewildering features of the illusory energy.

SB 4.30.34, Purport:

The great saint Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, a devotee of Lord Caitanya, has stated: kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate. For a pure devotee, kaivalya, merging into the existence of Brahman, the Brahman effulgence, is no better than living in hell. Similarly, he considers promotion to heavenly planets (tridaśa-pūr) just another kind of phantasmagoria. In other words, a pure devotee does not place much value in the destination of the karmīs (the heavenly planets) or in the destination of the jñānīs (merging into the Brahman effulgence). A pure devotee considers a moment's association with another pure devotee to be far superior to residing in a heavenly planet or merging in the Brahman effulgence. The topmost benediction for those who are living in this material world and are subjected to the repetition of birth and death (transmigration) is association with pure devotees. One should search out such pure devotees and remain with them. That will make one completely happy, even though living within the material world. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is started for that purpose. A person who is overly affected materially may take advantage of this movement and become intimately associated with it. In this way the confused and frustrated inhabitants of this material world may find the highest happiness in association with devotees.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.14.5, Translation and Purport:

Sometimes the conditioned soul in household life, being attached to material wealth and possessions, is disturbed by gadflies and mosquitoes, and sometimes locusts, birds of prey and rats give him trouble. Nonetheless, he still wanders down the path of material existence. Due to ignorance he becomes lusty and engages in fruitive activity. Because his mind is absorbed in these activities, he sees the material world as permanent, although it is temporary like a phantasmagoria, a house in the sky.

The following song is sung by Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura:

ahaṅkāre matta hañā, nitāi-pada pāsariyā,
asatyere satya kari māni

Due to forgetting the lotus feet of Lord Nityānanda and being puffed up by material possessions, wealth and opulence, one thinks the false, temporary material world to be an actual fact. This is the material disease. The living entity is eternal and blissful, but despite miserable material conditions, he thinks the material world to be real and factual due to his ignorance.

SB 5.14.46, Purport:

The six plunderers are the senses—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch and mind. The bad leader is diverted intelligence. Intelligence is meant for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, but due to material existence we divert all our intelligence to achieve material facilities. Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but due to our perverted mind and senses, we plunder the property of the Lord and engage in satisfying our senses. The jackals and tigers in the forest are our family members, and the herbs and creepers are our material desires. The mountain cave is our happy home, and the mosquitoes and serpents are our enemies. The rats, beasts and vultures are different types of thieves who take away our possessions, and the gandharva-pura is the phantasmagoria of the body and home. The will-o'-the-wisp is our attraction for gold and its color, and material residence and wealth are the ingredients for our material enjoyment. The whirlwind is our attraction for our wife, and the dust storm is our blinding passion experienced during sex. The demigods control the different directions, and the cricket is the harsh words spoken by our enemy during our absence. The owl is the person who directly insults us, and the impious trees are impious men. The waterless river represents atheists who give us trouble in this world and the next. The meat-eating demons are the government officials, and the pricking thorns are the impediments of material life. The little taste experienced in sex is our desire to enjoy another's wife, and the flies are the guardians of women, like the husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law and so forth. The creeper itself is women in general. The lion is the wheel of time, and the herons, crows and vultures are so-called demigods, pseudo svāmīs, yogīs and incarnations. All of these are too insignificant to give one relief. The swans are the perfect brāhmaṇas, and the monkeys are the extravagant śūdras engaged in eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The trees of the monkeys are our households, and the elephant is ultimate death. Thus all the constituents of material existence are described in this chapter.

SB 5.16.20-21, Purport:

"O my Lord, O son of Nanda Mahārāja, now You are standing before me with Your consort, the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Kindly accept me as the dust of Your lotus feet. please do not kick me away, for I have no other shelter."

Similarly, Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī indicates that the position of the demigods, who are decorated with golden helmets and other ornaments, is no better than a phantasmagoria (tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate). A devotee is never allured by such opulences. He simply aspires to become the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord.

SB 5.17.3, Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has perfectly enunciated and broadcast the process of bhakti-yoga. Consequently, for one who has taken shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the highest perfection of the Māyāvādīs, kaivalya, or becoming one with the Supreme, is considered hellish, to say nothing of the karmīs' aspiration to be promoted to the heavenly planets. Devotees consider such goals to be worthless phantasmagoria. There are also yogīs, who try to control their senses, but they can never succeed without coming to the stage of devotional service. The senses are compared to poisonous snakes, but the senses of a bhakta engaged in the service of the Lord are like snakes with their poisonous fangs removed. The yogī tries to suppress his senses, but even great mystics like Viśvāmitra fail in the attempt. Viśvāmitra was conquered by his senses when he was captivated by Menakā during his meditation. She later gave birth to Śakuntalā. The wisest persons in the world, therefore, are the bhakti-yogīs, as Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47):

SB Canto 6

SB 6.5.38, Purport:

Karmīs, fruitive workers, think that one should fully enjoy his present life in this material world and also perform some pious activities to be promoted to higher planetary systems for further enjoyment in the next life. A yogī, however, especially a bhakti-yogī, is callous to the opinions of this material world. He is not interested in traveling to the higher planetary systems of the demigods to enjoy a long life in an advanced materialistic civilization. As stated by Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate: for a devotee, merging into the Brahman existence is hellish, and life in the higher planetary systems of the demigods is a will-o'-the-wisp, a phantasmagoria with no real existence at all. A pure devotee is not interested in yogic perfection, travel to higher planetary systems, or oneness with Brahman. He is interested only in rendering service to the Personality of Godhead. Since Prajāpati Dakṣa was a karmī, he could not appreciate the great service Nārada Muni had rendered his eleven thousand sons. Instead, he accused Nārada Muni of being sinful and charged that because Nārada Muni was associated with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord would also be defamed. Thus Dakṣa criticized that Nārada Muni was an offender to the Lord although he was known as an associate of the Lord.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.5.25, Purport:

For one who becomes a pure devotee through devotional service to great personalities like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, kaivalya, or merging into Brahman, appears no better than hell. As far as the heavenly planets are concerned, to a devotee they are like a phantasmagoria or will-o'-the-wisp, and as far as yogic perfection is concerned, a devotee does not care a fig for such perfection, since the purpose of yogic perfection is achieved automatically by the devotee. This is all possible when one becomes a devotee of the Lord through the medium of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's instructions.

SB 9.9.47, Purport:

When passing through a mountainous region in an airplane, one may sometimes see a city in the sky with towers and palaces, or one may see similar things in a big forest. This is called a gandharva-pura, a phantasmagoria. This entire world resembles such a phantasmagoria, and every materially situated person has attachment for it. But Khaṭvāṅga Mahārāja, because of his advanced Kṛṣṇa consciousness, was not interested in such things. Even though a devotee may engage in apparently materialistic activities, he knows his position very well. Nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate. If one engages all material things in relation with the loving service of the Lord, one is situated in yukta-vairāgya, proper renunciation. In this material world, nothing should be accepted for one's sense gratification: everything should be accepted for the service of the Lord. This is the mentality of the spiritual world. Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga advises that one give up material attachments and surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus one achieves success in life. This is pure bhakti-yoga, which involves vairāgya-vidyā—renunciation and knowledge.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 10.177, Purport:

Kaivalya, oneness in the effulgence of Brahman, appears hellish to the devotee. The heavenly planets, the abodes of the demigods, appear to a devotee like phantasmagorias. The yogīs meditate for sense control, but for the devotee the senses appear like serpents with broken teeth. The devotee doesn’t have to control his senses, for his senses are already engaged in the Lord's service. Consequently there is no possibility that the senses will act like serpents. In the material condition, the senses are as strong as poisonous snakes. But when the senses are engaged in the Lord's service, they are like poisonous snakes with their fangs removed, and so they are no longer dangerous. The entire world is a replica of Vaikuṇṭha for the devotee because he has no anxiety. He sees that everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, and he does not want to enjoy anything for himself. He does not even aspire for the position of Lord Brahmā or Indra. He simply wants to engage everything in the service of the Lord; therefore he has no problem. He stands in his original constitutional position. All this is possible when one receives Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's merciful glance.

CC Madhya 13.141, Purport:

For a pure devotee who has realized Kṛṣṇa consciousness through Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the monistic philosophy by which one becomes one with the Supreme appears hellish. The mystic yoga practice, by which the mind is controlled and the senses are subjugated, also appears ludicrous to a pure devotee. The devotee's mind and senses are already engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord. In this way the poisonous effects of sensory activities are removed. If one's mind is always engaged in the service of the Lord, there is no possibility that one will think, feel or act materially. Similarly, the fruitive workers' attempt to attain to the heavenly planets is nothing more than a phantasmagoria for the devotee. After all, the heavenly planets are material, and in due course of time they will all be dissolved. Devotees do not care for such temporary things. They engage in transcendental devotional activities because they desire elevation to the spiritual world, where they can live eternally and peacefully and with full knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. In Vṛndāvana, the gopīs, cowherd boys and even the calves, cows, trees and water are fully conscious of Kṛṣṇa. They are never satisfied with anything but Kṛṣṇa.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 3, Purport:

They cannot have any freedom, because they must suffer four principal miseries—birth, old age, disease, and death. The laws of material nature impose this punishment upon the living entities who have forgotten the Lord and who are busy making plans for lasting happiness in this desert of distress.

By the mercy of the Lord, the pure devotee knows all this very well. Indeed, his whole philosophy of life is based on this understanding. Advancement of knowledge means to understand the naked truth of this world and to not be deluded by the temporary beauty of this phantasmagoria.

The material nature is not at all beautiful, for it is an "imitation peacock." The real peacock is a different thing, and one must have the sense to understand this. Those who are mad after capturing and enjoying the imitation peacock, as well as those who have a pessimistic view of the imitation peacock but lack any positive information of the real peacock—both are illusioned by the modes of material nature. Those who are after the imitation peacock are the fruitive workers, and those who simply condemn the imitation peacock but are ignorant of the real peacock are the empiric philosophers. Disgusted with the mirage of happiness in the material desert, they seek to merge into voidness.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.15 -- Hyderabad, November 21, 1972:

Asataḥ. Asataḥ means material. Nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ. Asataḥ, anything asat... Anything in the material world, that is asat. Asat means will not exist, temporary. So you cannot expect permanent happiness in temporary world. That is not possible. But they are trying to become happy. So many plan-making commissions, utopian. But actually there is no happiness. So many commissions. But there is... Tattva-darśī, they know... Tattva-darśī, one has seen or has realized the Absolute Truth, he knows that in the material world there cannot be any happiness. This conclusion should be made. This is simply phantasmagoria, if you want to become happy in this material world.

But people have become so foolish, especially at the present days, they're simply making plan on this material world, how they will become happy. We have practically seen. What is in our country? It is far, far behind material civilization. In America, there are so many motorcars. Every third man, or second man has got a car. We are poor man, we are sannyāsīs, brahmacārī. Still, in each temple we have got at least four, five cars. In each temple. Very nice car. Such car even ministers in India cannot imagine. (laughter) You see? Nice, nice cars. So they have got so many cars. But the problem is that always they're engaged in making roads, flyways, one after another, one after another, one after... It has come to this stage, four, five. Four-, five-storied roads. (laughter) So how you can become happy? Therefore tattva-darśibhiḥ na asataḥ. You cannot become permanently happy in this material world. That is not possible. So don't waste your time to become happy here. In another place, it is said, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām (SB 10.14.58). The same example can be given. In America, so many millions of people die in motor accidents. How many? What is the statistic? You don't remember?

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

Everyone is hankering after what is God, what is the nature of God. Somebody says there is no God, somebody says God is dead. These are all doubts. But here Kṛṣṇa says, asaṁśaya. You'll be doubtless. You'll feel, you'll know perfectly well that God is there, Kṛṣṇa is there. And He is the source of all energies. He is the primeval Lord. These things you will learn without any doubt. The first thing is we do not make progress in transcendental knowledge on account of doubts, saṁśayaḥ. These doubts can be removed by culture of real knowledge, by real association, by following the real methods, the doubts can be removed. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness persons, they are not after will-o'-the-wisp, phantasmagoria. No. They're actually making progress to the concrete Supreme Personality of Godhead.

As it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). There is a planet which is called cintāmaṇi-dhāma, Goloka Vṛndāvana. So in that dhāma... As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, mad dhāma. Dhāma means His abode. Kṛṣṇa says, "I have got an abode, particular." How we can deny? How is that abode? That is also described in Bhagavad-gītā and in many other Vedic literatures. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). Here, any dhāma, any planet you go... Just like we have got in this planet. But we have to go back from this planet. You'll not be allowed to stay here. You are Americans, that's all right; but how long you shall remain American? These people, they do not understand it. You'll have to go back in some other planet, in some other place. You cannot say, "No, I shall remain here. I have got my visa or my permanent citizenship." No. This will not allow you. One day death will come, "Please exit." "No, sir, I have got so much business." "No. Damn your business. Come on." You see? But if you go to Kṛṣṇaloka, Kṛṣṇa says, yad gatvā na nivartante, you haven't got to come back again. Yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6).

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Tokyo, January 28, 1975:

Prabhupāda: Yes. You cannot say it's by chance. And who is making this chance arrangement, that one is born so exalted, one is born so low? Then again we have to accept somebody is. So these are all foolish theories, "By chance, by kāma-haitukam." No, there is great arrangement. As the same... Just like the traffic control. There is a very big, great arrangement behind this. It is not by chance. By chance there has been not line, and they pass the car in certain line. No, it is not chance. How you can say, "chance"? So these theories are made by the demons. Read the purport.

Nitāi: "The demoniac conclude that the world is a phantasmagoria. There is no cause, no effect, no controller, no purpose: everything is unreal. They say that this cosmic manifestation arises due to chance material actions and reactions. They do not think that the world was created by God for a certain purpose. They have their own theory: that the world has come about in its own way and that there is no reason to believe that there is a God behind it. For them there is no difference between spirit and matter, and they do not accept the Supreme Spirit. Everything is matter only, and the whole cosmos is supposed to be a mass of ignorance."

Prabhupāda: Therefore they say chemical evolution. They cannot think of spirit. Go on.

Nitāi: "According to them, everything is void, and whatever manifestation exists is due to our ignorance in perception. They take it for granted that all manifestation of diversity is a display of ignorance. Just as in a dream we may create so many things which actually have no existence, so when we are awake we shall see that everything is simply a dream. But factually, although the demons say that life is a dream, they are very expert in enjoying this dream. And so, instead of acquiring knowledge, they become more and more implicated in their dreamland. They conclude that as a child is simply the result of sexual intercourse between man and woman, this world is born without any soul. For them it is only a combination of matter that has produced the living entities, and there is no question of the existence of the soul. As many living creatures come out from the perspiration and from a dead body without any cause, similarly, the whole living world has come out from the material combinations of the cosmic manifestation.

Lecture on BG 16.8 -- Tokyo, January 28, 1975:

The more one suffered imprisonment, he is given more exalted post. Not only jail, in the jail they were beaten very severely. Some of them were given poison. So many big, big leaders, they died just coming out of jail. They were given slow poison. C. R. Dasa, Jyotindra Mohan, Sen Gupta. And the Gandhi, therefore, he would not take any food from the jail. He would carry his one goat, and take the milk of the goat and some cāpāṭis made, two cāpāṭis and a little peanuts. That's all. He would not accept anything from the jail. Because he knew that "These men can give me poison." Actually they gave so many people slow poison, and they died. Just after coming back from the jail they died.

This is the world. It is going on. It is simply full of suffering. Simply we are after this phantasmagoria, that our running after something which is actually not fact. It is illusion. So this is the life in the material world. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to save the person from this illusory life of material existence. Let them come to Kṛṣṇa and go back to home, back to Kṛṣṇa. This is our movement. The greatest beneficial movement. We don't want to keep these people in ignorance. They are in illusion, ignorance. So our business is to enlighten him. Kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra: "You are sleeping. Get up, take this opportunity and be Kṛṣṇa conscious. Go back to home. Give up this nonsense place, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam (BG 8.15), full of miseries, cheating." This is our movement. The people do not understand. But our predecessor's order is that if you can save even one man, that is fulfillment of your mission. That we are trying. That's all. (end)

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.5.8-9 -- New Vrindaban, May 24, 1969:

Sakalam eva vihāya dūrād caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam. You just try to submit yourself on the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. By His mercy you'll find that, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate, you'll find that to become one with the Supreme, it will appear to you just like hell. To merge into the Supreme, that is the highest ambition of the impersonalists. But if you submit yourself to the lotus feet of Caitanyacandra, then you'll find that this conception is just like hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Naraka means hell. You'll find kaivalyam, to become one. And tridaśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. Tri-daśa-pūra means the planets, higher planets where demigods live. Thirty-three million demigods, there are at least thirty-three million planets. Tri-daśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. They are just like phantasmagoria.

The exact analogy of phantasma..., equivalent word in Sanskrit of phantasmagoria, which has no actual existence, is called ākāśa-puṣpa, "flower of the sky." There is no flower in the sky, but you can say. Or in common Bengali words, "eggs of the horse." Now, horse never gives eggs, but there are words like that. (chuckles) Just like Vivekananda has manufactured: daridra-nārāyaṇa. How Nārāyaṇa can be daridra? So it is something like horse eggs. You see? So these words are very... Tri-daśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. By the grace of Lord Caitanya you'll find to merge into the effulgence, to become one with the Supreme will be considered as hell, actually. If you ask any pure devotee, "Do you want to merge into the existence, impersonal Brahman?" he'll deny. If he has got little Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he'll deny, that "What is this merging? This is hellish. We want to dance with Kṛṣṇa. Why shall I merge and lose my existence, individuality?" And karmīs, they are trying to be elevated in the higher planets. Just like they are trying to go to the higher planets by sputniks, similarly, there are ritualistic ceremonies. Yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25). By performing all the ritualistic ceremonies, sacrifices, you can elevate yourself to the higher planets: yānti deva-vratā devān. That is another method. And this method also, another method, they want to go direct by machine. But that tendency is there everywhere, that "We may go to this sun planet, moon planet, this planet."

Lecture on SB 1.5.8-9 -- New Vrindaban, May 24, 1969:

You don't gain anything, because the four principles of material existence will continue there also. Birth, death, old age, and disease, you cannot stop. You may live for a greater period—that is possible in higher planets. But if you are simply satisfied only by living a bigger span of life, is that very success? Just stop death. That is success. To become very strong in body, that is not success. But either you become strong and weak, you have to die. There is no, I mean to say, excuse, because you are a strong man you will not die. Or because you are rich man you will not die. Because you are... No. Therefore Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says, it is just like ākāśa-puṣpa, phantasmagoria.

So this is karmī, jñānī. Jñānī wants to merge, and karmī wants higher level, higher standard of life. That is karmī's business. Karmīs give in charity just to acquire pious result out of it so that after death he can be elevated to the Svargaloka, heavenly planets. So Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says, "But by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, this ambition to be elevated in higher planetary system will appear to be as phantasmagoria." Ākāśa-puṣpāyate. And this is karmīs' ambition, the jñānīs' ambition. Then yogis. The yogis' ambition is siddhi, or eight kinds of success.

Lecture on SB 1.8.31 -- Mayapura, October 11, 1974:

The same thing. There is no difference between the life of the insect... Therefore Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says that, that the, these big, big demigods... Yat kāruṇya-katākṣa-vaibhavavatām. There is a verse. I just now forget it. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī says that kaivalya, the impersonalists' theory of becoming one, monist, with the Absolute... That is called kaivalya. So he says: kaivalyaṁ narakāyate: "For a devotee who has got little favor of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, for him, this kaival ya-sukha, happiness of becoming one with the Supreme, is as good as the hell." Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. And tri-daśa-pūra ākāśa-puṣpāyate. Tri-daśa-pūra means where thirty-three millions of demigods live, heavenly planets. It is something like phantasmagoria, ākāśa-puṣpa, which has... Just like in Bengal they say, jokingly, ghoṛā ḍim. Ghoṛā ḍim means a ghoṛā, a horse, never gives eggs. It is fantastics. It is not possible. Similarly, these heavenly planets, for a Vaiṣṇava, is ghoṛā ḍim. They don't care for it. It is no fact.

Lecture on SB 1.15.31 -- Los Angeles, December 9, 1973:

This is our charge against this so-called advancement of life. And they are forgetting real thing. They do not understand what is soul. They do not understand. They do not understand that the soul is transmigrating from one body to another. Soul is immortal. Soul is eternal. These things are described in the Bhagavad-gītā. In the beginning, this is the beginning lesson: dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāram (BG 2.13). This is the beginning of spiritual understanding. But they do not understand this beginning lesson, and still they are advanced. This is going on. Simply cheating. So this cheating process is going on under the misconception that "I am this body." The basic principle is cheating. Wrong. And on the wrong platform they are building phantasmagoria, big, big ideas.

Lecture on SB 1.16.5 -- Los Angeles, January 2, 1974:

Tri-daśa-pūr means the higher heavenly planets where big, big demigods live. Just like people are trying to go to this planet, that planet. So tri-daśa-pūr. Tri-daśa means thirty, three daśa, ten times...aḥ, three times ten. So there are thirty millions of demigods. And they have got different planets also. So they are promised, "If you come to this demigod's planet, yānti deva-vratā devān (BG 9.25), you will get so much happiness, you will live for so many years, you will have better standard of life, thousand times more than in the... These are... They are described in the Vedas. But a devotee says that this tri-daśa-pūr, this heavenly planet, is as good as phantasmagoria. They have no value for these things.

So the..., this is the aspiration of the karmīs, to elevate life to higher standard of life. As the world is going on... The struggle is going on for having a higher standard of life. But they are becoming implicated. Now, there was bull-drawn cart or horse-drawn carriages. Now they have got nice cars also, but the problem is petrol. So the karmī world is like that. You create one kind of happiness, but side by side you create another kind of unhappiness. This is called karmī-yoga. Just like if you want to raise one big skyscraper building, then you have to dig somewhere to get the earth to make the bricks and the iron. You cannot manufacture without taking help of the nature. So if you raise here, you must dig here. This is karmī-yoga. If you want to enjoy something extraordinarily, you must create another unhappiness extraordinarily. This is called karmī. Therefore they are mūḍhas. Mūḍhas means rascals, asses. They do not know that "By increasing every year new motorcars, I am creating another problem. If there is no petrol, then the whole business will be spoiled." That they do not know. And because they do not know, they are called asses, mūḍha. The effect they do not know. So the tri-daśa-pūr, going to the heavenly planet... Just like they are going to the moon planet, but problems after problem, contemplating how to make a platform in the sky to get petrol. The problem is there, not that very easily going. The problematic... Things are problematic.

Lecture on SB 1.16.5 -- Los Angeles, January 2, 1974:

The problem is there, not that very easily going. The problematic... Things are problematic.

So these kinds of plans... Just like Rāvaṇa. He said, "What is the use of becoming devotee? Oh, if you want to go to the heavenly planet, I shall make a solid staircase, reinforced concrete, and you can go there. There is no need of endeavoring for austerities, penances, no." So these people are trying like Rāvaṇa, that "We shall take you to the moon planet, Venus planet, this planet, and give us money. Now we spend. You go on spending... In future, in future." So these karmīs are just like phantasmagoria, will o' the wisp. And jñānī, they are also merging into the effulgence of Brahman. That is also another foolishness, because actually nobody can remain in that. Just like we are feeling happy here because we have got so many friends here, ladies and gentleman, and you are talking. Now, if it was vacant, nobody is here. Sometimes in our temple, That's not very good. Nobody likes to sit. Is it a fact? Every day, because we are so many, it is very pleasing to sit down.

So by nature a living entity wants society. "Society, friendship and love, divinely bestowed upon man." That is required. And if you live in a forlorn place, nobody's there, no society, no friends, then how long can stay there? You cannot stay. Just like if you go on the sky by airplane, after four, five, six hours you, you become disturbed: "When the plane will get down? When the plane will get down?" This is natural. Why...? Why the plane...? You are flying very nicely, huh? There is no turmoil, no noise in the sky. Go nicely. No. Similarly, in the ship also, you travel for many days. So it will be disturbing. People are searching after when we shall land in some place. So living entity by nature, he wants association.

Lecture on SB 2.3.11-12 -- Los Angeles, May 29, 1972:

Therefore unless the gross materialists or the worshipers of the temporary demigods come in contact with a transcendentalist like the pure devotee of the Lord, their attempts are simply a waste of energy. Only by the grace of the divine personalities, the pure devotees of the Lord, can one achieve pure devotion, which is the highest perfection of human life. Only a pure devotee of the Lord can show one the right way of progressive life. Otherwise both the materialistic way of life, without any information of God or the demigods, and the life engaged in the worship of demigods, in pursuit of temporary material enjoyments, are different phases of phantasmagoria. They are nicely explained in the Bhagavad-gītā also, but the Bhagavad-gītā can be understood in the association of pure devotees only, and not by the interpretations of politicians or dry philosophical speculators.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- London, August 3, 1971:

Prabhupāda: Well, sleep, when you sleep and dream, you take it all false. It is not very good omen.

Śyāmasundara: She said...

Woman: Like(?) you do anything about the movement in sleep, and I was... (?)

Prabhupāda: Sleep... Sleep is sleep. But in advanced stages in sleep also... Dream means whatever you act in awakened state, that comes as something, phantasmagoria. But actually, you have to do according to the rules and regulations, not under some dream or phantasmagoria. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness has to be executed according to the rules and regulations. Then it will be successful. Yes?

Indian lady: What does the peacock feather mean to Kṛṣṇa?

Śyāmasundara: What does a peacock feather mean to Kṛṣṇa?

Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa likes it. Yes.

Indian lady: Is it a symbol of love, or what it is?

Prabhupāda: No. Kṛṣṇa likes peacock feather. Barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam. We cannot check Kṛṣṇa's liking. (laughter) Yes? First of all, yes...

Lecture on SB 6.1.25 -- Chicago, July 9, 1975:

It is shadow. There is a very nice, beautiful girl in the window, and you pass on. You are not attracted, don't see even, because you know it is false, it is not reality. Again, suppose you love one girl, very nice, beautiful, and when she is dead, you are no more attached, because you know it is shadow. Why you are not attached to the same lover or beloved who is dead now? "No, no, here is your lover. Here is your beloved. Why don't you...?" "No, no, she is gone," or "He is gone." "Oh, where he is gone? He is lying there." (laughter)

So when we are attached to the shadow, that is called ignorance, illusion. This is illusion. So here in the material world we are all engaged in shadow attachment. Therefore it is called illusion. Māyā-mohitam. Daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī (BG 7.14). So this is going on, life after life. We are after shadow. Tejo-vāri-mṛṣā mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayaḥ. They, just like in the desert you will find exactly a vast water, pool, and the animal runs after the... It is called phantasmagoria? No?

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Bombay, January 6, 1973:

What to speak of this rich family or that family or brāhmaṇa family? Vidhi-mahendrādiś ca kīṭāyate. Even vidhi... Vidhi means Lord Brahma, and mahendra means Lord Indra. They are also considered, "What? They are insects, a pāpa living entity, just like ordinary insects." That is the position. The devotee is richest. Just like somebody... We were discussing. Somebody was speaking about me that "You are richest." Yes, I am richest. Why not richest? Because a devotee does not care liberation. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. The jñānīs are after merging into the Brahman effulgence. A devotee thinks, "What is this Brahman effulgence?" Narakāyate tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate. And the heavenly planet, that is phantasmagoria. What is this? Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate. And the yogis, they are trying to subjugate the indriyas. But for devotees, although the indriyas are just like serpent, the poison teeth have been taken away. Because the devotees' indriyas-hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanam (CC Madhya 19.170)—that is now differently engaged. A devotees' indriyas are not engaged for sense gratification. His indriyas are engaged for satisfying Kṛṣṇa. Therefore the poison teeth of indriya is broken. This is the process. Viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate vidhi-mahendrādiś ca kīṭāyate yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatām. This verse was written by one of your South Indian devotee of Lord Caitanya, Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. So he, I mean to say, realized, yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ taṁ gauram eva stumaḥ: "By the mercy of Lord Caitanya I have achieved this success." Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate (Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5).

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 3, 1972:

"I have become one with the Supreme," it is, to a devotee, just like hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. They do not give very much value to such conception, to become one with the Supreme. Or liberation, mukti. And the, this is mokṣa-kāmi, those who are aspiring after... Nirbheda-brahmānu-sandhana, without any difference with the Supreme Brahman. That is called mukti, liberation. And tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate. And the karmīs, they're aspiring after heavenly planets, tri-daśa-pūr. Tri-daśa means thirty. So there are more than thirty millions of demigods in different planetary systems. They are called heavenly planets. So they are ākāśa-puṣpa. Ākāśa-puṣpa means a flower does not grow in the sky; it is something imaginary, phantasmagoria. Tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate. So karmīs are interested in the ākāśa-puṣpa, heavenly planet. And the jñānīs are interested in mukti. Karmī, jñānī... And yogis are interested how to control the senses.

So tri... Prabodhananda Sarasvatī Mahārāja says that durdānta indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī-protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate. The senses are our enemies. That's all right. We also admit. The yogis try to control the senses and mind because they think of the senses just like serpent. Serpent, little touch by the lip, I mean, the tongue, immediately it causes death. So it is very dangerous. But Prabodhananda Sarasvatī says that "We are not afraid of these serpents because protkhāta daṁṣṭrāyate, the serpent is so long dangerous as long as it has got the poison teeth." Poison teeth. Protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate. So if you take away the poison teeth, then, however big serpent it may be, nobody will be afraid. In the Bengali it is said, visnai kulapana cakra (?). If a serpent is known that his poison teeth has been taken away, so his big hood, hans phamsa (?), nobody will be afraid, one who knows that he has no poison teeth. A child may be afraid, but anyone knows... So for a devotee, the senses are there, but it is not like serpent. The dangerous point of sense, for sense gratification, that is taken away. That poison teeth is taken away. So therefore a devotee's not afraid of the senses. They can easily handle the senses because the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord, which means the poison teeth of the serpent of sense is taken away. Durdānta indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 30, 1973:

Yes. Liberation, a devotee never... Why liberation? Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, he says... Liberation means kaivalya. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. What is this liberation? It is as good as the hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Tri-daṣa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate (Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5). The persons, they are hankering after being elevated to the heavenly planet. So for a devotee, this is will o' the wisp, phantasmagoria, it has no value. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpayate indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate. And the yogis... Karmīs, jñānīs, yogis. Karmīs are after heavenly planet; jñānīs are after kaivalya, liberation; yogis are after controlling the senses. So senses are very dangerous. Everyone knows. Our senses are very strong. Therefore the yoga system is recommended for them who are very much in bodily concept of life. Therefore they are advised to exercise the body to come to the point of spiritual platform. But those who are above bodily concept of life, those senses have been purified.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 1.8 -- Mayapur, April 1, 1975:

This is only one universe. This is called māyika brahmānanda. Māyika means shadow. Shadow... Shadow is existing on account of the real. So therefore it is called māyā. Just like the example is, in your country, in the window, there are many nice model, beautiful women standing or a man standing, nicely dressed, but that is not real man or woman. That is shadow. That is called māyā. This is the example of māyā. Māyā means it is not fact, but it appears like fact. That is called māyā. Another example is... Just like the mirage, water in the desert. Actually there is no water, but it appears that there is water. The foolish animals, they run after this water, but there is no water. Simply running after will o' the wisp, phantasmagoria. So every one of us in this material world—hankering after happiness. Everyone is trying to be happy. But it is like the same, that there is no water in the desert, and still, the foolish animal running after it.

So this whole material creation is like that. The creator of this universe, Kṛṣṇa, He says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam: (BG 8.15) "This is the place for suffering." And you are seeking after happiness. Just like in the prison house: it is the place for suffering, and if you want to be comfortable, this is called māyā. Māyā-sukhāya bharam udvahato vimūḍhān (SB 7.9.43). The whole world is running after happiness what is not possible. Therefore they have been described as vimūḍhān, rascal. We sometimes use this word very frequently, "rascals," and they become angry. But actually that is the description, "rascals." All these so-called civilized men, so-called civilized men, they are not men even. They're all animals. But in the śāstra, they have been described as dvi-pada-paśu. They are animals, but they have got two legs. That's all. That is the difference. Animals, generally, they have four legs, catus-pada, but these animals are two-legged. That is the difference. They're animals because... The same example: In the desert there is no water, and the animal is running after it. Why he's called animal? Because he does not understand that "In the desert, how there can be water?"

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.105 -- New York, July 11, 1976:

Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, he has made one poetry, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. Kaivalya means to merge into the Brahman existence—no difference, oneness. That is called kaivalya. So for a Vaiṣṇava the kaivalya is as good as the hell. Prabodānanda Sarasvatī said, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. This kaivalya.... No Vaiṣṇava will say, "Now I am going to merge into the existence," no, because they hate it as hell. Kaivalyam narakāyate. Then? Heavenly planets? Tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate. Tridaśa-pūr means the heaven, where so many millions of demigods live. They consider, Vaiṣṇava consider as ākāśa-puṣpa, will o' the wisp, phantasmagoria. It has no value. Ākāśa-puṣpāyate. That means karmī, jñānīs. Jñānīs, they are after liberation, merging into the existence, Brahman existence, kaivalya. The Vaiṣṇava thinks, "Oh, this achievement is as good as one who goes to the hell." Then? Heavenly planet? Karmīs? They might have pious activities. They want to go to the heavenly planet. So Vaiṣṇava says that "What is this heavenly planet? It is phantasmagoria. It has no..." Actually it is so. Then yogi? The yogi's main business is to control the senses. That is real yoga. Yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. Controlling the senses so that mind can be in a peaceful condition... Without controlling your senses, mind cannot be. Then you can apply this mind for meditation. If the mind is agitated, what is this nonsense meditation? First of all control the mind; then think of meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. We have to meditate with the mind. But if the mind is agitated, where is the question of meditation? It is all bogus. So for a yogi the first business is yama-niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra-aṣṭa, aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Then one's mind is controlled. Then dhyānāvasthita. Then he can remain in trance, always thinking of Viṣṇu. That is yoga. So first thing is to control the mind, control the senses.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 25.36-40 -- San Francisco, January 23, 1967:

So this sense gratification means, as it is said by Ṛṣabhādeva, na sādhu manye. "I do not think it is very good." Why? Yata asann api kleśada āsa dehaḥ (SB 5.5.4). If you act irresponsibly, without understanding yourself that you are not this material body, but you are spiritual body, then the result will be continuation of this material body one after another. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jātaḥ. Therefore we are all abodha-jātaḥ, born ignorant. Because from the very beginning of our life we know that "I am this body." There is no education in the material world that we are not this body, we are soul. Although there are books of knowledge, just like Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but nobody is interested. Therefore they are all mad. They are after the will-o'-the wisp, phantasmagoria, a wrong conception of life. Therefore all their activities are to be considered as defeat. Parābhavas, parābhavas tāvad abodha-jātaḥ. They are born ignorant, and they will continue to be ignorant, and they will be defeated by all their activities. Parābhavas tāvad abodha-jāto yāvan na jijñāsata ātma-tattvam. So long he is not awakened to inquire "What I am...?" Simply under madness he is going after this bodily sense enjoyment, but he does not know that he is not this body. Therefore all his activities under this wrong conception of life are to be considered as defeat of his human mission of life. Yes. Just like the Supreme Lord is ānanda-mātram: simply ānanda, bliss, transcendental bliss.

Therefore there is another verse in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: ramante yoginaḥ anante (CC Madhya 9.29). Yoginaḥ, those who are actually yogi... Yogi means who are trying to reestablish their link with the Absolute Truth. They are called yogis. There are different types of yogi, but the real purpose of yoga means... The ordinary yoga means to find out the Supersoul within yourself, because Supersoul is there. Ramante yoginaḥ anante. So those who are actually yogis, they are not interested in this bodily sense gratification. They want unlimited blissfulness. Ramante yoginaḥ anante satyānande.

Arrival Addresses and Talks

Arrival Speech -- Stockholm, September 5, 1973:

So we are simply requesting the people in general that "You chant this mantra. It is not very difficult. And if you chant this mantra, then gradually your heart will be cleansed." The whole thing is that due to our material association, we are contaminated. We cannot understand what is spiritual life. But if we take advantage of this mantra, chanting, then gradually our heart will be cleansed and immediately we shall be able to understand that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul." Then real awakening will come. Because at the present moment, every one of us is working on the bodily concept of life, which I am not. This is the fact. I am acting for something which I am not; therefore it is called māyā, or illusion. Phantasmagoria. I am working for something, and because I am working for something which I am not, therefore there is confusion. People are not happy. He is working day and night for this body; still, he is not happy. He is trying to make the senses... Body means the senses. So we are trying to satisfy the senses in so many ways, repeating the same thing in different way, but there is no happiness. It cannot be, because we are not this matter. We are spirit soul.

I can give you one example. Just (as) a man, if he is thrown into the ocean, he may be very expert swimmer, but simply by swimming over the ocean, he cannot be happy there. Because he is put in a different condition of life. It is not possible. So the best thing is that if we can pick up that man from the ocean, then he will be happy. So our this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is that we do not wish to swim over the ocean foolishly and to become happy there. That is not our program.

General Lectures

Engagement Lecture -- Buffalo, April 23, 1969:

More or less, he commits mistake. Just like in our country there was Mahatma Gandhi. He was supposed to be a very great personality, mahātmā, but he also committed mistake because when he was killed, five minutes before his coming to the meeting, he was warned by his confidential associates not to go to that meeting, but he persisted, and as soon as he entered the meeting hall he was killed. So I am giving an instance that even a great personality like Mahatma Gandhi, he also committed mistake. So in the conditioned state of our life, committing mistake is very natural. Just like we say, "To err is human." Any human being is susceptible to commit mistake. Another imperfectness is that every man is illusioned. Illusioned means to accept something which is not, phantasmagoria. Just like every one of us in this meeting, we are under the impression that "I am this body." But actually I am not this body. This is called illusion, māyā.

So to commit mistake, to become illusioned, number two, and number three: a cheating propensity. Everyone, conditioned soul, thinks himself very expert, and he talks with his, I mean to say, fellow man as a very intelligent man. And he has got every... Just like in business. In business you go to a storekeeper. He'll say, "Oh, you are my great friend. I am not taking a farthing profit from you." But you must know that he is taking profit, at least fifty percent. So this is called cheating propensity. One who is not in the knowledge, but he puts forward his theories and theses and so many by the words "perhaps," "it may be," like that—this is called cheating. So to commit mistake, to be illusioned, and cheating propensity, and at last, imperfectness of the senses. Our senses are limited. We cannot see far distant place.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Śyāmasundara: He says that, about the nature of truth, that truth is more than just an agreement of idea with reality, but it also has a practical significance, that whatever is practical is true.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Practical we can see from the verse of Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, that anyone who has got a slight merciful glance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he thinks that Brahman liberation is as good as hell. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. And the heavenly planets, they are phantasmagoria, and yoga-siddhi, that is not a very important thing. And people are suffering on this material condition. (But) for a devotee it is simply pleasing. Everywhere he goes he feels pleased, while others seeing full of anxiety. Devotees, they are seeing everything pleasing. So these things happen simply by a fragment of the merciful glance of Caitanya Mahāprabhu upon His devotees. Viśvaṁ pūrṇam, they do not care for any big scholar or many exalted personalities, just like we challenge anyone, even we don't care for Dr. Radhakrishnan, who is so much exalted. So this is practical. Because one has become Kṛṣṇa conscious, therefore these things happen. (to guest:) Please sit down. (Bengali)

Śyāmasundara: His idea of truth is that truth means experience.

Prabhupāda: That is our proposal. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt (SB 11.2.42). Bhakti means one who advances in bhakti, he becomes..., he has no more any taste for material enjoyment. The more one increases in bhakti cult, he decreases his tendency for material enjoyment. That is the test. Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra. Unless one becomes detestful for material things, it is to be understood that he is not making progress. This is practical. The example is given just like a hungry man: when he eats, he feels, as he goes on eating, proportionately he feels satisfaction and strength of (indistinct). Similarly, one who is advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he will feel spiritually strong and no taste for material enjoyment. This is practical.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Irish Poet, Desmond O'Grady -- May 23, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: He gets equality, attains equality position. Yes, purport?

Nitāi: To the impersonalist, achieving the brahma-bhūta stage, becoming one with the Absolute, is the last word. But for the personalist, or pure devotee, one has to go still further to become engaged in pure devotional service. This means that one who is engaged in pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord is already in a state of liberation, called brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20), oneness with the Absolute. Without being one with the Supreme, the Absolute, one cannot render service unto Him. In the absolute conception, there is no difference between the served and the servitor; yet the distinction is there, in a higher spiritual sense.

In the material concept of life, when one works for sense gratification, there is misery, but in the absolute world, when one is engaged in pure devotional service, there is no misery. The devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has nothing to lament or desire. Since God is full, a living entity who is engaged in God's service, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, becomes also full in himself. He is just like a river cleansed of all dirty water. Because a pure devotee has no thought other than Kṛṣṇa, he is naturally always joyful. He does not lament for any material loss or gain because he is full in service of the Lord. He has no desire for material enjoyment because he knows that every living entity is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore eternally a servant. He does not see, in the material world, someone as higher and someone as lower; higher and lower positions are ephemeral, and a devotee has nothing to do with ephemeral appearances or disappearances. For him stone and gold are of equal value. This is the brahma-bhūta (SB 4.30.20) stage, and this stage is attained very easily by the pure devotee. In that stage of existence, the idea of becoming one with the Supreme Brahman and annihilating one's individuality becomes hellish, and the idea of attaining the heavenly kingdom becomes phantasmagoria, and the senses are like broken serpents' teeth. As there is no fear of a serpent with broken teeth, so there is no fear from the senses when they are automatically controlled. The world is miserable for the materially infected person, but for a devotee the entire world is as good as Vaikuṇṭha, or the spiritual sky. The highest personality in this material universe is no more significant than an ant for a devotee. Such a stage can be achieved by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, who preached pure devotional service in this age.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- March 2, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: No.

Devotee (1): The scientists, they cannot understand the (indistinct), they can understand what is the relationship between the world of ideas, the world of names, and the world that they see. How can we explain what that means?

Prabhupāda: There is spiritual and material. The material is simply a phantasmagoria. It is the imitation of the reality. That is described in the Bhagavad-gītā, fifteenth chapter, find out. Ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham (BG 15.1). That is called mirage. In the desert the animal is finding water. There is no water in the desert. But there is water, but not in the desert. That they do not know. So this is just like desert, this material world and everything is reflection like the water. But desert there is no water, it is only reflection. Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayo yatra tri-sargo 'mṛṣā. Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ. Here everything is a transformation of three material things, fire, water, and earth, but it looks like reality. Just like the mirage, that is also tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ vinimayaḥ, by reflection of the sun falling on the sand, and it looks like water. This is (indistinct). And the animal is running after water, running, running, running, when he becomes fatigued (he) dies. That's all.

Devotee (1): But here in the material world when we look for water, we actually take it and we can drink it.

Prabhupāda: That is not water! That you do not know.

Devotee (1): That's not water either.

Prabhupāda: Hm? What is that?

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- March 13, 1976, Mayapur:

Rādhāvallabha: Śrīla Prabhupāda, this professor calls you "uncompromising." He said that you are "uncompromising."

Prabhupāda: Hm. That is my philosophy. Read it. Read it somebody.

Satsvarūpa: "Ever since 1893, when Swami Vivekananda proclaimed monism and tolerance to the World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago, nonspecialists in America have pictured Hinduism as an easy-going phantasmagoria of smiling faces disappearing like dewdrops into the shining sea. The Nectar of Devotion should bring them up sharp. (laughter) His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, whose shorn, orange-clad disciples have brought the inseparable twins of bhajana and bakshish to the streets of America, has no doubt that such impersonalism is nothing less than rascaldom."

Devotees: Jaya!

Satsvarūpa: "With all the books on Vedānta and bland neo-transcendentalism that are at present available to the English-speaking public, it is good to have on the popular market such an uncompromising statement of an opposing view from the pen of one who is as firmly rooted in a disciplic tradition, guru-paramparā, as Bhaktivedanta Swami."

Devotees: Haribol!

Ghanaśyāma: At this school, Śrīla Prabhupāda, they ordered two orders. They were so favorable, for their Theology Department Library and also for the main library, because there were so many professors like this one who were favorable, they wanted your books to be very easily accessible.

Room Conversation -- August 11, 1976, Tehran:

Prabhupāda: Huh? Yes. That is devotee. Because God wants it that these rascals may be turned into sane man. That is God's plan. Otherwise why does He comes? Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata (BG 4.7). Huh? Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8)—two class, sādhu and duṣkṛtinaḥ. So to punish these duṣkṛtinaḥ there is reformation. That is not God's enemy, reformation. As the father gives slap to rogue child, that is also kindness. So these two processes are going on, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. Dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya. Then what is that dharma? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam (BG 18.66). That is dharma. So to deal with the asuras is not so easy job, but we have to do that. You should not be discouraged. So asuras may be reformed or not be reformed, but because you are trying this job on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, He will recognize you. Your service will be recognized. Not that you attempted, therefore you must be successful. You may be unsuccessful. It does not matter. But you have tried your best, and that will be recognized. (pause) And these asuras are trying to become happy by material advancement of knowledge. They're not happy-struggling—but this is called will-o'-the-wisp, phantasmagoria. Actually, they are not happy, they cannot be happy, but they are trying. How they can be happy? Nature is there.

Devotee: They are falsely proud of their achievements.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- January 4, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Huh? Yes. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. For a devotee, this kaivalya-sukha of the Māyāvādī, impersonalist...

Dr. Patel: Just like naraka.

Prabhupāda: Is the hell for them. What is this nonsense? Who will understand this? Huh? Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. And heaven, tridaśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate. Heavenly planets, they are will of the wisp. Phantasmagoria. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Karmī, jñānī... Jñānī wants kaivalya and karmī wants heavenly happiness. And the yogi, yogi wants to control the senses. So he says that "Yes, we know the senses are very powerful." Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī. Indriya, it is just like snake. If you play with a snake you do not know at any moment death is there by biting. So although these indriyas are like snakes, kāla-sarpa, venomous serpent, but protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate. We have... What is called? Extricated?

Girirāja: Extracted

Prabhupāda: Extracted the fangs. The fangs if they are taken away, it may do like useless. Similarly, for a devotee the indriyas are dangerous. But because devotee, hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa. they have engaged their indriyas in the service of the Lord, the fangs are taken out. Durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate. The whole universe for them is very happy. Everyone is it is very unhappy. For them it is very happy. Because he does not see anything which is not suitable for Kṛṣṇa's service. Viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate. Kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūrākāśa-puṣpāyate durdānta indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate vidhi-mahendrādiś ca kīṭāyate(Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5). And the post of vidhi, means Brahmā and Mahendra... What is this? Kīṭāyate. It is just like...

Morning Talk -- April 5, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Let me work with these foreigners, because you have taught Indian independence, and they are not coming. Therefore these foreign boys, they are helping me. So let them remain. What harm they are doing? Let them have permanent residence helping me. Their life, money, everything, why don't you allow me? Unnecessarily they have to go away and come again.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: We are throwing five lakhs of rupees that could be well utilized every year.

Prabhupāda: We are not... We have no interest in politics. What interest do we have in this phantasmagoria? We are not so fools. And there are so many people, they are taking part in politics. Is this sane?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That's the argument I always use when we are preaching to get someone to join. They say "Well, we want to be a doctor or we want to be..." I say there are already so many millions of doctors, so many, but there is only...

Prabhupāda: And doctor is canvassing, "You become my patient."

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yesterday that man was canvassing you. That Āyur-veda man.

Prabhupāda: As soon as he wanted history I rejected him. He is not Ayurvedic. And Karttikeya was sorry that I did not give him for one and a half hour.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Oh, Karttikeya, the whole time he was very agitated.

Prabhupāda: So everyone who will come I will have to give one and a half hour?

Discussion about Bhu-mandala -- July 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Just like I take Kṛṣṇa's word. Bas, fact. You can say that you are prejudiced, you see. This is the book.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: That is a nice explanation, the petals.

Prabhupāda: Everyone is prejudiced. But who is rightly prejudiced who is wrongly prejudiced. That is everywhere. Just like materialistic person will think, "Brainwash. These rascals, they have given all up material enjoyment, and after some phantasmagoria they sacrifice everything. Brainwash." And we are thinking, "Oh, these rascals, got this human form of body, he did not understand what is spiritual life." Both of them—he is rascal and he is rascal. This is going on. Yā niśā sarva-bhūtānāṁ tasyāṁ jāgarti saṁyamī. Is it not? They say, "Brainwash. Unnecessarily they've sacrificed everything." And we say that he got the human form and unnecessarily he is working like cats and...

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Both are saying the same thing. Obvious.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Now who is correct? Who will decide? I accuse you, you accuse me. But who is correct? Who will decide? That is śāstra. There is no question of argument. That is called pratiṣṭhā. You will never come to any conclusion by arguing. I think you are wrong, you think I am wrong. Somebody must decide. Judge. And that is śāstra.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Supposing they say...

Prabhupāda: They say, we are saying so many things. In the court there are two parties. I say something, another party says. The judge is there. He has now decision.

Correspondence

1972 Correspondence

Letter to Mahatma -- Sydney 10 April, 1972:

"So far your thinking about things and making so many plans, that is all right, but our first business is Krishna's plan. That is the only plan, and no matter how many schemes we employ to adjust things in this material world, if they have no solid basis in Krishna's plan, they remain merely dreams of phantasmagoria. So in this Krishna Consciousness Movement, I am training boys and girls all over the world how to act nicely by practically serving Krishna in their everyday lives. That is more important than trying for something which I may like to do but which will never happen. Just like Sudama Vipra, he did not want to offer something very small, but his wife insisted so he offered Krishna only a small bowl of flaked rice, and Krishna took it with great pleasure, and when Sudama vipra returned home to his poor hut, he found a huge palace made of jewels. So the point is to make use of what we already have. That is most important, and if Krishna sees that we are using is properly for pleasing Him in loving attitude of devotional service, then Krishna gives every facility in reciprocation of love. So if you have talent for musical achievement, that is nice; but if you nourish some idea of becoming famous by playing some music, that will be a source of frustration—the end. So it is better if you play your music for Krishna by having very ecstatic kirtanas in your center in Vancouver, and in this way, as I have introduced it, all of the devotees and also the general public as well will be able to join together cooperatively in the glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, not that we shall glorify anyone else. Let the materialists operate in their own way, but we have got Vaisnavism stand and we should train the general public to accept it and come up to our platform of process of doing things, not that we should reduce to their standard."

Page Title:Phantasmagoria
Compiler:Visnu Murti, RupaManjari
Created:19 of Nov, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=3, SB=20, CC=2, OB=1, Lec=22, Con=7, Let=1
No. of Quotes:56